Medieval Dopplegangers
by Lacto3.1415
Summary: After Reese finds out Malcolm filmed him for Herkabe's project, Reese goes to the wishing tree and makes a wish that he was in another place. Little did he know that the tree was enchanted and he was taken to an alternate universe where he faced challenges much different and more difficult than he had ever encountered before.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Starts out with events from the episode "Malcolm Films Reese."

Disclaimer: I don't own the MitM characters or the dialogue at the very beginning of this fanfic (which is from the episode itself).

* * *

Chapter One: Wish to the Alternate Universe

**Reese's POV**

I couldn't believe it.

I confided my thoughts and feelings in Malcolm and he down-right betrayed me. And for what? Just some stupid school project of his.

As I sat fuming at one of the tables at school, he walked up and sat down next to me.

"This is an official apology," he said, "I'm a terrible person and I'm sorry. What I did was horrible, even by our standards. And, let's face it, we've set the bar pretty low."

When I didn't reply, he continued, "Look, I'm begging you, tell me what I can do to fix it. Anything. Just say it and I'll do it."

I turned to face him. "Sure. Fly backwards around earth like superman and turn back time to before I thought we liked each other."

I grabbed my backpack and walked away. I didn't want to be around him-or anyone else at that school for that matter-so I decided to just leave the campus, even though the day wasn't close to being over. I didn't care.

After a short while, I came upon Jefferson street, the place where my wishing hole was.

I went up to the tree and peered into the hole. Thoughts of a few days back when I said 'I wish Malcolm and I could be friends forever' filled my mind when I arrived.

But this time I would wish for something different.

I bent over and closed my eyes. I didn't care if anyone was watching me as I whispered my new wish into the hole.

"I wish I were somewhere else right now."

* * *

When I opened my eyes, I was expecting to see the same old houses and the same old boring scenery.

But it was...different.

The usual neighborhood houses were replaced by an expansive forest. Plants I didn't recognize sprouted from the ground every which way and a weird mist coated the floor.

There were no strange sounds or bright flashes that usually occur when people supposedly teleported to other places. This new forest just..._appeared_ before me.

"Where am I?" I asked aloud, though I didn't see anyone in sight.

I looked back at the tree and noticed it looked exactly the same as it did before. The only thing in the place that remained the same. Shrugging, I started walking around this new place.

After taking a few steps, two soldiers emerged from behind a couple of trees and approached me. They were both clad in full suits of medieval style armor and looked startled by my presence.

"How did you get out?" one of them asked me, stopping a several feet in front of me.

"Get out of where?" I asked.

The two soldiers exchanged glances before one of them withdrew his sword and walked even closer to me.

"You're coming with us," he said.

"What?" I said, "Where? I didn't do anything. And who are you guys?"

I started backing away, but before I could escape, one of them ran up to me and grabbed me, slamming me against the tree behind me.

"You should know better than to escape without your weapons," he sneered, turning to the other soldier, "the king shall be pleased with us. Do you have the rope?"

I tried struggling against his grasp, but this soldier was way too strong. While the other soldier reached into a bag on his belt to grab some rope, the one holding me reached up his other arm and placed his blade across my neck.

"Don't even try to escape," he said.

I stopped struggling but as I reached back, I felt the hole in the tree and remembered this was the wishing tree. This wasn't at all what I expected to happen, so maybe I could take my wish back?

Before I could say anything, another figure clad in a full suit of armor appeared. At first I thought he was a friend of these soldiers, but then I noticed the design on his shield was different than the others.

The newcomer let out a battle cry in a voice that sounded a bit strange, but awfully familiar to me, before charging at the other two soldiers. Startled, the soldier holding me let me go and turned to face his new enemy.

The three of them fought, mainly bashing their shields against each other but sometimes swinging their swords elaborately. I pressed myself against the tree, too afraid to run but I also didn't want to get in the middle of the fight.

After a short while, and to my surprise, the newcomer won the fight. As the other two soldiers lay fallen on the ground, the one who saved me panted and then approached me.

"Are you okay, brother?" he asked, sheathing his sword.

"Brother?" I asked.

He appeared to nod before standing upright and removing his helmet.

"Oh, Malcolm," I smiled, even though I was still a bit resentful at what he did to me earlier, "it's you. Couldn't understand you there for a moment, what's with that weird accent? But thanks for saving me there. I hate to admit it, but I was actually kind of scared there for a moment."

He gave me a really confused look. "Malcolm? Who are you talking about? It's me, Marcel."

I suppressed a chuckle. He looked exactly like Malcolm, why would he refer to himself by that weird name?

"Why are you calling yourself Marcel?" I asked, "And who were those guys, anyway?"

He looked down at the soldiers then back up at me before saying, "you don't remember? What have they done to you this time, Russell?"

"Who's _they_?" I asked, "And why'd you call me _Russell_?"

Before Marcel could reply, a couple of horses whined in the distance and strange voices echoed through the forest.

Marcel's eyes widened. "Run!"

He started running and grabbed me by the wrist, dragging me along with him. I wasn't sure what was happening, so I decided to just follow him.

As we ran along, I started thinking through this situation more. This guy looked just like Malcolm but referred to himself as Marcel. And he thought my name was Russell?

Then I thought about what I had said to Malcolm earlier. _Turn back time_. What if he had been able to turn back time but we ended up in the middle ages instead of just a few days earlier?

I shook my head at that ridiculous thought. He certainly couldn't do that. Maybe these Marcel and Russell guys were our twins? I remember Malcolm once said something about alternate universes and dopplegangers. He started rambling about the probability of them existing and other boring stuff.

Maybe this guy was Malcolm's alternate and Russell was mine? I didn't think the wishing tree had the ability to transfer me somewhere else. But that explanation sure as heck would be a lot more interesting than this just being a dream, so I went with it.

We stopped near a large fallen log between two standing trees. On either side of the log were several large bushes, creating a small hiding space between the trees. Marcel bent down and started crawling under the log. I followed him and tried avoiding the spiny bushes nestled against the trees' roots as we settled into the cramped space.

"We should be safe here," he whispered, "they can't fit through while we're here."

I nodded, looking through the holes in the bushes and trying to listen for anyone else. There was nothing but silence, occasionally interrupted by rustling of what I assumed were small animals nearby.

He was panting heavily and shaking a little bit.

"Why are you so terrified?" I asked, "You did fine against those soldiers back there."

"We can't get captured again," he whispered, "we just can't...and be quiet."

We both fell silent. Even though I didn't hear them coming, there was always a chance those soldiers could come by a while from now.

After what seemed like hours, Marcel finally relaxed a bit, saying that the others must have gone a different way and they weren't after us.

I nodded. "Oh, by the way, my name's Reese, not Russell."

"_Reese_?" his eyes widened, "Is that what they did to you? Made you forget who you truly are?"

"Who are _they_?" I asked, "Those soldiers back there?"

"You don't remember do you?" Marcel frowned, "Riding along in the forest with your men, ambushed by King Lucan's knights?"

I shook my head. "That wasn't me, that must have been your brother. Look, I'm not Russell, I'm his twin. I'm not from around here and honestly I don't know exactly how I got here. But I'm not who you think I am."

Marcel still didn't look convinced. "His twin?" He turned away and started talking aloud, mostly to himself, "I wonder what kind of magic they used on you this time?"

"Magic?" I asked, "There's no magic involved. I'm Russell's...alternate. Doppleganger? Those two words mean anything to you?"

He continued to stare off into the forest. "Last time they used magic that affected your memory for a couple of weeks. But it wore off after a short while and it wasn't this bad."

I sighed and put my head back. Malcolm was a genius so I presumed this doppleganger of his was also a genius. But apparently he couldn't even understand my simple explanation.

"I give up," I said, exasperated.

Alarmed, Marcel grabbed my arm. "No, Russell! Don't give up on your life. We need you."

I pushed him away. "Relax, man, I wasn't going to give up my life. And for the last time, I'm not this Russell guy."

"Oh," he said simply, relaxing a bit. He continued to stare at me with those blue eyes before adding, "you need help. We need to get to the castle as fast as we can."

"I don't need-wait, did you say _castle_?" I asked.

He nodded. "Father should be able to help us."

Before I could say anything else, hoof steps sounded from nearby and Marcel stiffened up, quickly putting his hand over my mouth and giving me a _if-you-say-anything-I'll-kill-you_ look.

"We know you're in there, sons of Lord Hugh," someone nearby said, "you can't hide for long."

I didn't recognize the voice, but I assumed they were soldiers like the ones who attacked me earlier. As I peered through the bushes I could only see horses legs pacing around right outside the opening to our little hideout.

"Maybe we should just force them out," the other soldier said, "they're stubborn lads."

"One of them is armed," his comrade replied, "and it's more entertaining to just threaten and wait. We have nothing better to do anyway, just think of the reward the king will give us."

"What was the ransom last time?"

"About 25,000 pounds."

I wasn't sure what a pound was worth, but since it was in the thousands, I assumed it was a lot.

But why were my family's alternates worth so much?

Rushing footsteps echoed through the forest and someone else came along, panting.

"Two soldiers are injured back there," the newcomer said, "we need to help them."

"But the sons of Lord Hugh are here," one of the soldiers protested, "if we leave, they'll get away."

"And their ransom is worth more than those other soldiers," the other pointed out.

"There's no one else out here," the newcomer said, "this must have been the work of those two sons. They're stronger than you think."

"We're knights," one of them boasted, "we can handle them."

I glanced over at Marcel and noticed his eyes closed shut. He removed his hand from my mouth and grabbed his helmet.

Was he seriously planning on crawling out and fighting them?

The land grew dark for a moment and a loud, angry roar blared through the forest. The horses panicked and started whining, bucking and refusing to listen to their master's commands. The land grew light again, but was momentarily covered by a shadow again.

"It's a wild dragon," the newcomer shouted, "we have to get out here fast."

This time the knights didn't argue and instead started issuing commands to their horses. After it appeared the knights gained control of their animals, they rode away, leaving the two of us behind in our hideout.

Marcel remained perfectly still and quiet, so I did the same. Soon, a large figure descended and landed near our hideout, sending a strong wind blowing through the bushes at us.

As I peered out through the bushes, I could see only giant, scaly feet digging at the ground and moving the dragon along. The beast made grunting noises and paused for a second before walking towards us.

The dragon lowered its head and glared at us through bright green eyes. It growled before letting out a deafening roar.

I froze, glancing over at Marcel. He slowly reached over to unsheathe his sword and kept his eyes averted from the dragon's direct gaze.

The dragon stopped roaring when it noticed Marcel's blade. It started growling and backed away a bit.

When it was several feet away, it bent down its body and jumped up. Sounds of its wings beating echoed through the forest as the dragon flew away.

Marcel lowered his sword and sighed. "That was close."

"Why did it go away?" I asked. I didn't think Marcel's sword would be _that_ strong against that beast. Especially in the position we're in.

He shrugged. "I don't know. But we're in the dragon's territory and need to head out _now_."

He quickly started crawling out the hideout and I followed suit. When we were both out, he looked in both directions and pointed towards the right of us.

"That way should lead to the village," he said, "follow me."

We started running towards the village and I looked back, making sure that neither the dragon nor those soldiers were following us.

When I looked ahead again, I realized we were heading further and further away from the wishing tree.

What in the world had I gotten myself into?


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Soooo, I'm really sorry about this ridiculously long update. I promise I'll update this a lot more frequently! :D

* * *

Chapter Two: The Wilkemire Manor

**Reese's POV**

It didn't take us too long to get to our next destination. Marcel referred to it as the "Wilkemire Manor" where the village and castle were located.

Along the way, Marcel explained to me everything that I supposedly completely forgot about.

"Our father, Lord Hugh, is the lord of the manor," he said, "and the two of us are squires, along with Fabien. And Damian is a page."

Fabien and Damian? I assumed he was referring to the alternates of Francis and Dewey.

"So, what am I supposed to do as a squire?" I asked.

"We're squires of the body, we directly assist our father," he replied, "just follow what I do and hopefully it will all come back to you."

It would never come back to me, but I figured there was no point in arguing with my brother's alternate anymore.

Marcel relaxed when we entered the village. I hadn't seen or heard any dragons or enemy knights for a while so I figured we were completely out of danger at this point.

As we emerged from the forest, we stepped out onto a clearing. A large group small houses were clumped together next to a flowing river nearby and several larger buildings sat idly away from the group. In the distance there were several large fields of crops and what looked like a castle beyond those fields.

Marcel lead me along a dirt road towards the clump of houses. People walked to and from the houses, sometimes stopping to talk with each other. They wore typical middle ages clothing, the men with their tunics and the women with their dresses. As we walked past them, they all glanced as me curiously.

"How many of these people know me?" I asked Marcel.

"All of them," he said, "this place isn't very big."

"Then why are they looking at me all weird?"

"Your clothes are...different," he said, "and you are back after being captured."

I frowned. "You mean I don't get some sort of cool celebration for being back? That's lame."

"Cool?" he asked, "What does that mean? And they won't celebrate because none of them like us. Remember? When we were younger we used to burn the fields and attack the peasants as if they were invading knights?"

"Seriously? You guys did that?" I asked, looking out towards the distant cropfields, "I'd like to see a field set ablaze here."

"You want to see that? What's wrong with you?"

I sighed. "Forget it, let's just move on. I want to see whether the inside of that castle matches the ideal picture I have in my mind."

Marcel looked at me strangely but continued on without further questioning.

When we arrived, we stopped outside the front doors. There wasn't a moat, which was disappointing, but right in front of the doors stood the alternates of Stevie and Abe.

"Hi," I greeted, careful not to mention their modern world names.

"Squire Russell, you're back!" Stevie exclaimed, "How did you fare after the ordeal?"

"Um..." I looked towards Marcel, hoping he would know how to address them.

"Simon, Avalloc," Marcel greeted, "Russell...isn't himself. Are our parents here? I need to talk with them."

"Lord Hugh is presiding over a case at this moment," Avalloc said, "but it should be done soon."

"Thank you," Marcel said. Abe's alternate opened the door and let us in.

The room we entered was small, but somehow fit several dozen people inside. Marcel led me along the back wall, pointing towards the other side of the room.

"I wonder what a peasant did this time?" Marcel questioned.

"What peasant?" I asked, trying to look above the small crowd of people. It was then that I noticed my father's alternate, sitting in a large chair on a platform, allowing him to tower above the rest of the people. His clothing was quite ornate and colorful, certainly better made than what the average person was wearing here.

"Normally the peasants just steal some food or just don't pay their dues to the Lord," Marcel explained, "one time we had a couple of peasants hunt in our father's private lands."

"Oh," I said, disappointed. I thought it was going to be something more daring or exciting, like pulling a prank on Marcel's father. I stifled a yawn when I heard the Lord speak up to demand silence.

"Explain yourself," my father's alternate said in an uncharacteristically demanding voice. The father I knew back home was such a pushover, so it would be interesting to see how his alternate rules this place.

I heard a faint voice coming from the middle of the crowd but couldn't distinguish what the person was saying. Frustrated, I decided to move forward a bit, much to the dismay of Marcel.

"Stay back, Russell," my brother's alternate whispered, "you don't want to disrupt father's ruling."

"Yeah, yeah," I replied, continuing to move forward. I never listened to Malcolm back at home so why would listen to this Marcel guy?

Earlier I didn't mind following Marcel when he led me through those unfamiliar woods, but here my curiosity got the best of me.

"So, you think you could get away with it that easily, then?" I heard the Lord's voice boom out over the crowd, "Peasants never get away with that kind of crime."

_What kind of crime?_ I thought to myself, still pushing my way through the crowd. I noticed a couple of people give me strange looks or gasp as I passed, but I just ignored them.

I could hear the stammering of a frightened peasant not too far off. I still couldn't make out what he was saying, but I was happy I was finally close to seeing what was going on. Why did Marcel want us to stay back, anyway?

"This peasant still refuses to give me a good answer," my father's alternate bellowed out angrily, "take him to the rack in the torture chamber. I need more information."

_Torture chamber?_ I thought, _they have torture chambers here?_ I heard the peasant cry out in protest, begging the Lord for forgiveness. I felt Marcel try to pull me back, but I pushed him off and finally emerged from the crowd to see who it was.

"But what did he do?" I asked aloud, exasperated.

Maybe that wasn't the best idea, but I really wanted to know.

The crowd gasped and looked towards me. The peasant stopped his begging and looked back towards me, a frightened look still present on his face. I gazed towards my father's alternate who looked at me angrily, opening his mouth to shout at me.

Suddenly his gaze softened. "Russell?"

"Yeah, I guess," I said, still hoping I would find out about the peasant.

Marcel stepped forward from behind me and addressed the Lord. "Father, I have to talk to you about Russell. I think he's been—"

"Oh, my son!" another voice shouted from nearby. I turned my head towards the sound and noticed a lady wearing a very fancy, frilly dress run towards me.

Mom?

"Oh, Russell, you're alive," my mom's alternate wrapped her arms around me in one of the tightest hugs I've ever received. I returned the hug awkwardly, not used to this kind of affection from mom back at home.

"Mother, I think something bad has happened to Russell," Marcel spoke up, "I found him in the woods and he hasn't acted himself."

"Is that so?" my mom's alternate broke away and took a good look at me, "Where did you get that clothing?"

"I'm from an alternate universe," I tried explaining, "at least I think that's what happened. I made a wish at my wishing tree back at home and suddenly appeared here. I'm not who you think I am."

"Oh, no," the lady's face turned quickly from excitement to horror, "they've used dark magic on them, haven't they?"

I sighed. It looked like she wouldn't believe me either.

The people in the room exchanged worried glances and started panicking at those words. Dark magic. It sounded very cliche and unoriginal, so I guessed it was something very bad.

"What will we do, Lord Hugh?" my mother's alternate asked her husband.

The Lord was looking down, studying me. I tried not to fidget under his stare, but I wasn't used to such a harsh gaze from my own father, so I averted my gaze to stare at the peasant instead. I noticed he was trying to escape from the two guards holding him and secretly I started rooting for the stranger. It would be exciting to see a great escape in this place.

"I think we should discuss this in private," the Lord said, "and leave Russell out of this for now. The enemies could be spying through him."

_Really? They think I'm a spy now?_ I really wanted to start acting suspicious, slowly moving backwards into the crowd or pulling out a small notepad stealthily to take notes for the "enemies," but then I decided that would probably cause more trouble than I'd like.

"Okay," I shrugged, "but what happened with the peasant?"

"Why are you interested in this peasant?" my mother's alternate asked.

"He committed a crime," I replied, "how could I not be interested?"

My alternate family's members exchanged worried glances.

"Let's meet in the back room," Marcel suggested to his parents before turning to address me, "And you can…explore the castle, brother."

My father's alternate stood up, looking out over the crowd in the room and announced, "this trial is over. Everybody go back to what they were doing."

People mumbled and grumbled but obeyed my alternate father's ruling. I noticed that he, along with Marcel and my mom's alternate, walked away towards a small hallway, heading off towards their private meeting room.

One of the guards holding the peasant let go of him and approached me.

"Since you have a strangely insatiable curiosity about this criminal, I'll tell you what he did," he said.

"Cool," I said.

"He has been accused of illegal hunting in your father's private lands," the guard said.

"Oh," I said, "hunting what? Dragons?"

"No," he replied, "deer."

I frowned. "Really? Deer? That's lame. It would be cooler to meet a real live dragon hunter here."

The guard merely nodded before walking back to help escort the deer hunter to the torture chamber.

Deer hunter to a torture chamber? And I thought mom's punishments could be ridiculous at times back home.

Once nearly all the people left the room I decided to head towards the exit, wanting to see what other strange customs these people had. As I neared the door, a young, pretty girl ran up to me and pulled me towards the side.

She looked around the room before embracing me. "Oh, Russell, I'm so glad you're back."

"Um, who are you?" I asked, returning the hug anyway.

She pulled away, tears forming in her eyes. "You mean…you don't remember me?"

"Well…" I said, trying to think of who this person could possibly be. A sister of Russell's? Cousin? Long lost lover?

"But you said that you would never forget me," she whispered, holding her hands to her heart.

"I could never forget such a beautiful girl as you," I told her.

Well, I'm not sure where that came from, but it certainly wasn't a lie.

She smiled at me and chuckled. "Oh, I should have known you were just being a silly fool. Tonight is the night that we shall run away from here."

"Run away?"

"You promised me that when you got back we would leave this horrid life behind, traveling on your valiant steed to the lands far away."

"Yeah, about that…" I started, not sure what to say. Although I sure wouldn't mind exploring more of this world, for some reason I didn't feel right pretending to be someone I wasn't.

She frowned. "You're not leaving me again, are you?"

"Well, you see," I said, "I'm not Russ—"

"Elizabeth!" a man called out, interrupting me. We both turned our heads to see a tall, stocky man walk over towards us.

Man, was he buff!

"Daughter I told you you're not allowed to interact with one of those nobles," he said, glaring at me, "you need to learn your place in this manor."

"But father," she whined, "I'm old enough to make my own decisions."

"You're never old enough," he said to her, turning back towards me, "and _you_. Didn't you heed my warning from last time?"

I shook my head. "I couldn't, because I'm not—"

"Ha," he laughed, "you nobles think you're so above us peasants, you never take our threats seriously. Mark my words, I will get revenge on you if it's the last thing I do."

"I'm _not_ Russell," I said, frustrated, "though actually, if he's anything like me, he would—"

A loud whoosh sounded from above the building and a large bang sounded right above our heads as if something very large landed on the roof. I looked upwards and startled when a loud roar erupted from above too.

"What was that?" I panicked, "Are we being attacked?"

The daughter and father exchanged confused glances. "You don't know what that is?" the father asked me.

"No, why would I?" I asked.

"You really have been affected by dark magic," the girl cried, "oh I was hoping that what your brother said earlier wasn't true."

"Dark magic?" the father eyes widened, "Oh, you better stay away from my daughter now."

He grabbed his daughter by her arm and hurriedly dragged her towards the door, ignoring her protests as they left the room.

"But what was that thing?" I called out after them.

No reply.

Sighing, I decided to ask Abe or Stevie about that.

I approached the door and greeted the two of them, trying to remember their medieval names to address them.

"Ah, Russell, sounds like Damian's back from patrol," Abe's alternate said.

Dewey's alternate is back from patrol?

"Was that the sound I heard?" I asked, "Something big landed on the roof."

Stevie's alternate nodded. "Yes, he always lands there during his break."

The first thought that crossed my mind was that Dewey's alternate was actually a dragon. But that probably wasn't possible, so I decided to question them further.

"Can I see him?" I asked.

"Of course," Abe's alternate said, pointing back towards the side of the building, "there are stairs leading to the top."

"Thank you," I said, heading towards the side of the building.

Once I turned the corner I noticed that there was indeed a flight of stairs made out of wood and rocks heading upwards towards the roof alongside the building. They were poorly made and looked very unstable, but I really wanted to see what Dewey's alternate was up to.

As I climbed up the cracked stairs, I looked out towards the land to see if there was anything interesting in sight. Not really. Just a few houses in front of the cropfields with the forest in the distance.

When I reached the top, I took one step on the roof but then stopped.

A large, black, typical looking dragon stood on the roof. It's wings were held straight up, spanning probably ten feet in length and it's large, muscular body was covered in small spikes. On its back was what looked like a saddle, though there was no other equipment accompanying it.

At first I didn't see anyone else, so I really did think my brother's alternate was a dragon. How cool would that have been? But then I heard a voice coming from the other side of the dragon.

"Well, Zermania, I think that we do have a good chance at rescuing Russell," someone who sounded exactly like Dewey said, "it's just a matter of stealth and speed."

I noticed the dragon growl for a second then stop, resuming it's growling for a longer period of time as if it were trying to say different words.

I heard footsteps as Dewey's alternate started walking around the dragon's front towards my side of the beast."Yes, I'm sure my father won't approve of it, but can you imagine the look on his face when we _do_ save Russell?"

A young boy walked in front of the dragon and came into my view. He looked exactly like Dewey except he was wearing strange, brightly colored clothing and a goofy-looking helmet with two curved horns coming out of the back and one straight one pointing forward.

He froze when he saw me. The dragon whipped it's head around to look at me and let out a loud, menacing growl.

"Hi," I called out.

"Who-who are you?" Dewey's alternate's eyes widened.

"Reese," I said, deciding there was no point in pretending to be this Russell guy, "and you must be Damian?"

The dragon turned it's body around and took a stiff, protective stance next to Damian. I backed up a little bit. I remember Malcolm and I being afraid of Marshmallow back at home, but this dragon was far, far scarier than that stupid dog.

"Yes," Damian replied, looking at me cautiously, "but how do you look just like my brother Russell?"

"Oh, that's simple," I said, "I'm from an alternate universe. I guess you could say I'm Russell's twin from far, far away?"

Surprisingly enough, Damian nodded and didn't look at me like I was a complete nut.

"That makes sense," he said, "we just saw Russell being taken into the enemy castle. He couldn't have possibly made it out and be here in that short amount of time."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally, someone who actually believes me."

The dragon took a step forward and glared at me, a deep growl rumbling in its throat.

"This is Zermania," Damian said, gesturing towards the dragon, "and she says she doesn't trust you."

"You can understand the dragon?" I asked.

"It's through the power of my helmet," he explained, "fused with a bit of magic, the horns are identical to the ones found on Zermania's head."

I looked from the dragon to the helmet and, sure enough, the horns matched. How did I not see that before?

"Want to try it?" he asked, taking off his helmet.

"Wait, you just met me and you're letting me talk to your dragon?"

"Sure, why not?" Damian replied, walking towards me with his helmet in hand, "Zermania will protect me if you try to do anything funny."

I glanced warily towards the dragon as Damian handed me the helmet. She kept glaring at me, baring her teeth menacingly. I wasn't sure I wanted to talk with something so hostile, but I decided I may as well give it a try.

"Marcel and my parents can't understand her, but Russell can," Damian said, "I've never been able to figure out why."

I put on the helmet and fastened the strap. Looking at Damian again who just nodded at me, I turned my gaze towards the dragon.

"Am I supposed to say something out loud?" I asked. I figured I was, but there was always a chance this was thought based and I certainly didn't want to think of something that would provoke the dragon.

"Well, well, can you hear me?" I heard a deep sounding, growling voice ask me. It sounded almost exactly as I pictured the dragon to sound if it could speak my language.

"Yes I can," I said.

"Good," Zermania said, "then you are like Russell. But I still don't trust you."

"Well, I can't say that I trust you either," I replied, receiving an angry growl from the dragon, "okay, I'm kidding."

"No you're not," Zermania said.

"Yes, it's working," Damian exclaimed, "I have another helmet that I can wear. Wait right here and I'll go get it."

"Wait, Dewey—I mean, Damian, I don't want to be left here with this dragon," I called out. The boy just ignored me and started running down the steps.

I turned back towards Zermania and grinned. "So, how did you get to know my brother? Er, brother's alternate, I mean?"

The dragon narrowed her eyes. "I don't trust you enough to tell that story."

"Okay, fine," I said, "I won't tell you my story either."

"I wasn't interested in it," she said.

I wasn't sure what else to say to this intimidating beast, so I ended up standing on the roof awkwardly, waiting for Damian to come back. Zermania kept her gaze on me, though after a while it softened and she looked more curious than hostile.

Still, neither of us spoke any words until Damian walked up donning the other helmet.

"Now all three of us can understand each other," he said excitedly.

"Good," Zermania said, "now what is our next course of action?"

"Well, now we should be completing our rounds around the manor," Damian said, "but I think we should show Reese where Russell is."

"Why?" the dragon questioned.

"Because we couldn't figure out a way to get my brother out, but maybe his twin can," Damian said.

"Sure, I'd be up for it," I said, "I'm good at getting people out of sticky situations."

"Fine," Zermania said, "though I don't know how he'll fit onto my back with you."

"Oh, he can just hang onto me and lie along your back," Damian said, walking over towards the dragon, "there is a section that isn't covered in spikes that he can lie on."

"Wait," I said, "are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Are you afraid of heights?" Damian asked.

I shook my head.

"Do you get motion sickness?"

Again, I shook my head.

"And now that you can communicate with Zermania, you're no longer afraid of dragons, correct?"

"Well, she is still intimidating," I admitted, "but I'm just worried about falling off."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Damian said, hoisting himself onto the dragon's back, "Zermania's quick. She's sure to catch you if you fall."

I stood back, still hesitant about the flying. But when would I get another opportunity to fly a _dragon_?

"Eh, what the hell?" I said, heading over to Zermania's side, trying not to look into her piercing gaze. Damian helped lift me up onto her back and directed how I should position myself.

Once we were situated, with me lying along the back, holding onto Damian for dear life, Damian nodded to Zermania who was looking back towards us.

She turned her head forward and let out a loud roar before bunching up her muscles and lifting off into the air, heading towards the forest.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: To those who've favorited, alerted and reviewed this story so far, thanks a bunch! :D

I know I'm going glacially slow with this, but I recently got a bunch of ideas and a decent way to connect all the plot points together ('cause I had ideas for the second half and ending of this story but I couldn't figure out how to get there).

I've already started chapter four...and hopefully the idea will just keep flowing...and I'll actually, like seriously, update this more often than every two and a half months.

:'D

Enjoy! I hope this is isn't going to get too...bizarre.

* * *

Chapter Three: Dragon Flight

**Reese's POV**

The wind blew steadily across us as we flew above the manor. It wasn't a very big place, just a few large buildings, some smaller houses, and lots of crop fields. The whole place was surrounded by forests which seemed to continue on forever.

"So, could you try explaining your situation again?" Damian asked.

I had told him everything that happened. What Malcolm did to me back at home, the wishing tree, the strange soldiers. The fact that everyone was insisting I was infected with some sort of magic, especially dark magic. Even though Dewey's doppleganger didn't seem to have a problem with me, he still looked at me like I was kind of weird.

"I've heard of gods and goddesses and strange monsters, but not an…alternate universe," he said.

"I didn't know it existed either," I said, "this all just feels like a dream to me."

Zermania scoffed. "I think this feels like a dream to all of us. We're done patrolling the manor. Want to go to the castle now?"

"Sure," said Damian.

Suddenly the dragon increased her speed, swiftly flying over the forest. I held on tighter than I had before, much more afraid of falling off than before.

I wanted to ask if we could go just a bit slower, but I'm sure that there was a good reason for Zermania to go quickly. The forest seemed to stretch on for miles, indicating that our destination was probably very far away. I wasn't sure how this whole manor and king thing worked, but I was just amazed at the fact that my alternate was able to be taken away to somewhere so far away.

After what seemed like an eternity, Zermania finally slowed her speed, soon coming to a halt near the edge of the forest. We landed on the ground and I looked up, still holding tightly to the dragon's back.

The place we arrived looked similar to the manor my alternates were living at. The crop fields, the river, the people walking around to and from their houses, looking busy or bored.

But instead of there being a few small buildings in the distance, there was a really big castle. One that actually looked like a castle. The kind I've seen on shows or movies.

"Russell's in there," Damian said, pointing towards the castle that I was completely riveted by, "we can't figure out a way to free him from there because he's being held in one of the dungeons below ground."

"Why don't you just have your dragon attack the castle?" I asked, "it seems like people here are afraid of them."

Zermania whipped her head around to look at me, staring at me through her green eyes. "Even I can't fight against that many people. The castle is infested with archers and soldiers, all ready to protect the king with their lives. I don't understand why they would though. The king doesn't sound that great to me."

"Oh."

"And they patrol the castle both day and night, heavily guarding the prisoners at all times," said Damian, "they usually don't take the prisoners out but for public humiliation purposes."

"So that's what you meant when you said you saw Russell being taken into the castle," I said, "so that's the only time you probably can grab the guy?"

"Possibly, unless if we try to infiltrate the place, but that's very risky. I don't know the layout of the underground dungeons here, though if they are similar to the ones we have back at home, they'll be extremely hard to get into and extremely hard to get out of."

I nodded, trying to think of all the movies I've watched back at home regarding this kind of situation. It seemed like there should be a lot of different ways to go in and save Russell. Sudden ambushes sometimes worked, confusing the enemy. Digging a tunnel and somehow appearing in the right cell where the prisoner is being held also works. Of course, we would have to deal with the king trying to get revenge, but the good guy always wins, right?

Then I started thinking about who the good guys actually are in this world. Marcel told me that he and his brothers used to burn crop fields and cause other trouble for the people. I wonder if that's why Russell was captured? To be punished for all that he did to the people back at the manor? But then again, why would the king have him captured when his castle is so far away?

I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the confusing thoughts. I'm sure with time I would piece everything together, but right now Damian and his dragon were just trying to come up with some sort of way to get my alternate out.

"Have you tried digging a tunnel down into the dungeons?" I asked, "that might be able to work."

"A tunnel? Do you know how long that would take?" Zermania said.

It probably would take a while. I looked around the place, wondering what we could use to get the job done. Unfortunately it didn't look like we had any cool explosives—or actually anything useful for that matter—to use in this world. I remember many times my brothers and I had gotten ourselves into sticky situations and we usually just used whatever happened to be lying around to help us out.

"Well, maybe not a tunnel," I said, trying to think of another way we could do things. A lot of times, in order to get out of trouble, we would create distractions for our parents, especially mom. Maybe that could work here? Distract these enemies and then go in and save my alternate?

Zermania looked at me suspiciously. "What are you planning now?"

"I think we should create some sort of distraction," I said, suddenly thinking of an idea when I realized we had a dragon on our side, "I've been accused of being Russell before, so why don't I run around the woods, attract attention, and then when they try and capture me again Zermania can swoop down and eat them?"

Damian and his dragon exchanged what looked like thoughtful glances before returning their gazes towards me.

Zermania said, "that could work. Except it probably wouldn't be too long before they send out a bigger patrol to hunt the evil dragon that keeps attacking them."

"But when they send out a bigger patrol we can go in and…enter the castle and save Russell!" I replied proudly.

"I like the idea of eating soldiers, but I don't see how you two can get in unnoticed."

"Leave that to me," I said.

"But you're the one who's supposed to distract the enemy."

"Oh."

"Zermania and I aren't exactly unknown around here," Damian said, "if someone spots her attacking, the king might just attack our manor in retaliation. And we certainly don't have a strong enough army to fight back."

"Can't this just be seen as our retaliation against them?" I asked, "look, they've captured one of your men and we want him back. We fight them to show them we're serious and—"

"Weren't you listening? We don't have a big enough army to fight back."

Shouts in the distance briefly caught our attention. It looked like a group of soldiers was patrolling the king's border and they were heading our way.

"We should fly now," Damian said.

"Wait, why don't we stay?" I asked, "and then when they're close enough to see me, we can run away and they'll chase us and…the dragon will kill them."

I had gotten so many people hurt back home, but the idea of actually seeing them killed made me a bit uneasy. Though I had to admit it would be cool to see a dragon attacking in real life. And this is an alternate universe. Assuming I'm actually on the good people's side here, these soldiers deserves what's coming.

"Get on my back," said Zermania, "I like that idea, but we can't underestimate their speed."

Damian and I did as she asked and when the soldiers arrived they curtly nodded towards Dewey's alternate and the dragon. I had no idea how well regarded they were in this town, but the soldiers didn't seem to be too leery of them.

Until I waved at them. Then all hell broke loose.

After they spotted me, Damian yelled at Zermania to fly and she lifted off the ground. The soldiers began yelling at us and rushing towards us. A few broke off from the group and headed back to the town. I assumed they were looking to get some reinforcements.

Zermania led out a loud roar and it was all I could do not to cover my ears. I closed my eyes and held on tight. I could hear the wind swiftly whooshing past me as we fly away. The shouts of the soldiers grew more and more distant as we traveled on.

We stopped and Zermania turned around, ready to face the pursuers. The number was smaller this time, the fastest soldiers having outpaced their slower comrades.

"It's time for the kill," Zermania said.

She swooped down at attacked the soldiers who tried desperately to fight back. There are all these stories of brave knights in shining armor who could kill a dragon single-handedly. But these guys didn't even come close to that.

Half a dozen went down before the slower soldiers arrived. I noticed that the dragon had a few wounds but she still went in for the kill, apparently enjoying this very much. I wish I had been able to help, but I didn't dare jump off the dragon's back without any weapons or actual protection.

Soon the rest of the soldiers lay dead on the ground. The colors and designs on their shields definitely matched the ones who had attacked me when I first came to this world.

Zermania sat down and panted heavily. Damian glanced back at me, a worried look on his face.

"They saw us," he said, "they recognized us. Now they're going to attack our manor, what are we going to do?"

"Relax, dude," I said, "they should have known this was coming. All we have to do is reason with the king. Give us back Russell and we'll stop killing your people. Simple as that. And imagine the look on their faces when they go back and see my alternate in the dungeon. They'll be so confused."

I wondered if those soldiers who had attacked me earlier had been able to get back to the castle. Did they already tell their stories to the king? It didn't look like Marcel had actually killed either one of them, so it's possible they were able to recover and then tell the king and the others something about me.

"Well that felt good to kill," Zermania said, "mind if I feast now?"

Damian and I jumped off the dragon's back and headed into the woods, letting Zermania eat the dead soldiers. I wasn't sure when the reinforcements would arrive, but I didn't doubt that the dragon could handle them too.

"I wonder what's going to happen?" Damian said, half speaking to himself, "I was hoping you could come up with a more…subtle plan."

"Hey, your dragon liked my plan," I said, "and anyway it's not like we had that much time to come up with something different. I think they'll get the message though. And if they don't…"

"Then they'll attack our manor."

This wasn't really getting us anywhere. I still didn't know too much about this place, so I decided to just ask more questions. Also, since I didn't even know where the tree with the wishing hole even was anymore, I figured I probably couldn't get back home anytime soon anyway so I may as well get as much information about this place as I can.

"How long has this Russell guy been captured, anyway?" I asked.

"For a short while, now," he answered unhelpfully, adding, "we've all been captured before. Tortured for a bit until they set us free. Trying to send us a message that we shouldn't bother the king in any way."

"But this place is so far away from your manor. How were you able to get here and cause trouble?"

He turned his head and I followed his gaze towards Zermania. A few other soldiers had arrived but they were quickly dealt with by the dragon.

"I thought you said Marcel couldn't talk with that dragon."

"Oh, he can't. But that doesn't mean he didn't like to come with us. You see, we caused enough trouble at home and we got kind of bored of it. So we decided to try bothering the king himself. He's much more powerful than my father, Lord Hugh, so it was a bit more satisfying troubling him. Unfortunately, we usually just had Zermania drop us off and a few times she couldn't come back in time to save us. Hence our previous lockups."

I could understand getting bored causing trouble in the same places to the same people. After doing the same things over and over again my brothers and I would try and come up with something new to do, something more dangerous. I remember Francis was usually a good person to go to for advice on that.

"Earlier when those soldiers came by they didn't seem to be bothered by you and your dragon. What was up with that?"

"Well Zermania and I have formed a 'truce' with the king, saying we won't bother him anymore if he leaves us alone. There's only two dragons that people in King Lucan's territory have been able to communicate with, so I provide him the service of patrolling around his kingdom to see if there is any rival king trying to attack him."

"If you have a truce, then why is Russell in jail?"

"Because he wasn't part of the truce. And normally we just wait for each other to be released from the dungeon, but we were kind of hoping to get Russell out a bit earlier. We haven't tried that before and it could be fun."

"So you and your dragon have full access to this place? Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Because we don't. We patrol the borders and fly above the kingdom, but the people wouldn't like it if we landed directly in their town. So we actually can't just fly and land on top of the castle and I can't just walk into the castle freely. They still don't trust us, but they'll let us pass because dragon riders are hard to come by."

He let out a big sigh before adding, "except now that Zermania has actually killed, they might deem her to be too dangerous and ban us from coming here again."

"So who's the other dude that has a dragon?"

"Someone named Juliana. Don't know much about her. She lives in the woods with her dragon and sometimes we do patrols together. Apparently she's not a fan of humans."

"Sounds like a weirdo. But I'm still not sure why attacking those guards was such a big deal."

The sound of loud footsteps echoed through the woods as Zermania approached us. She was licking her lips, looking very satisfied when she simply told us, "all done."

"Now the king is going to ban us from patrolling his kingdom and he's probably going to take it out on the manor," Damian told the dragon.

"Good," the dragon replied, "I was never a fan of patrolling, it's boring." She turned her gaze towards me before adding, "that idea didn't work at getting your alternate out, but that sure satisfied my hunger for human blood."

"Um…your welcome," I said, feeling uneasy about the large reptile, "I guess."

When no one said anything else, I asked, "now what?"

"We should probably go back and warn Lord Hugh about what happened," Damian said, "assuming that they're going to attack us."

"Okay."

I hopped onto Zermania's back behind Damian and we took off again, heading towards the manor.


End file.
